Craine Painting LLC

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Our Shop Process

Once the bases of your cabinets are cleaned, masked, and coated our team moves off site to work on the most visible portion of your cabinets: the doors and drawer faces.

Typically, we have cabinets refinished within a week, and your space can go back to normal right away. See our post on aftercare and cabinet maintenance if you’re looking for how to clean your cabinets once they’re refinished.

Shop Steps:

Cleaning

We use a 3 step cleaning process to remove all oils and grease, along with any other contaminants from cleaning supplies, beauty products, and everyday life.

Prep Sanding

Sanding creates peaks and valleys in the original finish, which allows our primer to adhere correctly for a long-lasting finish

Primer

A properly chosen and tinted primer increases coating adhesion, and ensures proper color coverage for the final coats. We spray primer onto doors to ensure a smooth finish
Note: If you have a darker color going on your island or cabinets, we’ll use a dark primer, usually dark gray or blue, which allows us to reach the saturated color you’re looking for. It can be jarring to see a different color than your agreed upon shade be applied, but trust the process!

Finish Sanding

We strive for excellence in final coatings, and sanding down any roughness that accumulates between coats is essential.

Topcoats

Depending on product and color choice, your door and drawer fronts will get 1-3 coats of tinted topcoat. What determines how many coats we’ll use? The manufacturer’s instructions! We read and memorize the technical recommendations of each product we use, which is why cabinets we’ve finished have a durable and beautiful finish.

Stack Time

We follow the coating manufacturer’s guidance in regards to drying time and stack time- the initial curing time when the cabinets can be stacked without resulting in damage to the finish. Once door and drawer fronts are installed, we’ll email you aftercare instructions that include full coating cure time.

Ready to transform your kitchen? Contact Craine Painting LLC via our cabinet refinishing form to get an estimate on your project.

How much does repainting my cabinets cost in 2026?

A white cabinet door with medium gray pinstriping

Budget is top of mind when considering home renovation projects, especially in 2026, and repainting your cabinets is a great way to stay within your budget when renovating. Whether you’re getting your home ready to sell or you’re ready to give your family lake home a refresh, Craine Painting’s expertise is here to help you craft a beautiful kitchen.

A 2025 cabinet refinishing project that took cabinets from a honeyed-oak to a deep espresso.

Average Kitchen Cabinet Painting Costs

Our pricing for refinishing of hardwood (maple, hickory, cherry) cabinets in the Southeast Wisconsin area starts at $140 per linear foot. Typically, that means a total job cost of $5,000-7,000. Included in that price is:

One single, solid color refinish of all cabinet bases and doors sprayed by a finishing professional
Industrial-grade primer and topcoat with great chemical, physical resistance
Precision masking of adjacent floors, ceilings, walls, counters, and fixtures
Meticulous prep work for proper adhesion, durability
Respect for your home including zip wall barriers, outdoor exhaust, and filtering return vents

Speciality Finishes

We love to see a customer’s vision come to life! We have training and experience in specialty finishes, including:

Glazing
Pinstriping
Distressing
Colorblock or Two-Tone
High Gloss
Deep, High-Pigment Colors

Our Pricing Commitment

At Craine Painting, we’re known for keeping our word. We don’t like surprises, and believe pricing should be transparent. At our walkthrough, we go through each step of the refinishing process so you know exactly what you can expect. Once we’ve seen the scope of your job, you can expect a personalized, detailed estimate within 2 days.

Ready to commit to a new look in your kitchen or bath?

Contact Craine Painting via text or phone at (262) 725-1310

or via email at crainepaintingllc@gmail.com

Should I buy new or refinish my existing cabinets?

If you want to change the style of your kitchen or bath, refinishing or replacing your cabinets is one of the most common renovations. Choosing to buy new or refinish can be tricky, and really depends on the construction of your cabinets and their current state.

If your existing cabinets are already a perfect fit for your appliances, but don’t quite fit your preferred style, we can help! This customer chose to take her cabinets white to give a crisp, clean look.

Price Considerations

We’ve found that refinishing cabinets costs about a third of the price of replacing cabinets! And when we looked into new cabinet pricing, we noticed there were a lot of hidden costs. The prices listed in store and online don’t include demo costs to remove existing doors or cabinets or installation costs. When you refinish with Craine Painting, we’ll always give you the all-in price of your project: prep, cleaning, labor, and installation.

Good candidates for refinishing

Hardwood doors and drawer faces (made of maple, cherry, oak)
Cabinets in good condition; finishes will cover, not eliminate, nicks and gouges in wood
A layout you love including wine racks, appliance garages, or unique molding

Please note: We’ve seen some beautiful cabinets made of birds eye maple, quarter sawn oak, or pricey wood species. We’ll never paint over that kind of natural beauty, but we can help you with a finish that will enhance the look of the wood.

Pay close attention to new cabinet estimates. Are finishing touches like wine racks and glass-paneled doors included in the price you’re being quoted? Craine Painting LLC always quotes your all-in price.

When refacing/replacement makes sense

There are some instances when refinishing cabinets just doesn’t make sense, and we’re always honest in those situations. We want our customers to be excited by our work, and that means setting realistic expectations. If you want a minimalist look and don’t mind having manufactured wood cabinets, replacement might make sense for your needs.

You’re looking for a whole new layout
Your current cabinets are falling apart
Your cabinets have a distinct wood grain, but you want a glass-like finish
You’re looking for different face style (shaker to arched or raised panel to flat panel)

Have more questions about our process? Check out our YouTube channel.

Bulb warmth & paint color

How do you want your home to feel? Warm and cozy? Crisp and clean? Naturally bright?

Light has the ability to transform your experience of a space. Light sources, whether natural or electric, are something to consider before choosing a color to finish your home.

The 2 paint lids pictured below are a good example of how to give a painter a heart attack, and how bulb color can affect paint color. After mixing the 2 gallons together and setting the new lid of the same color next to the old one, I had a mild panic attack, thinking I’d mixed the wrong color into the old one. I checked the labels on both lids- was there a paint tinting mistake?

After taking a few deep breaths, I realized I had set the left lid directly in the doorway of a room with a warm white light bulb casting light on it. The right lid, just outside of that doorway’s light path, is illuminated by my daylight work light. Moving both lids a foot to the left or right confirmed that they were the exact same color.

They’re two different colors, right? Nope! They are just being lit by different sources. The paint on the left is being lit by a warm white overhead light, while the right side is lit by a “daylight” colored bulb.

A Painter’s Tips to Getting the Perfect Color:

Pick a bulb color and stick with it.
- I’m not saying that I’ve been called back to a cool white kitchen that had a ”yellowing door” concern. I’m not saying that the culprit was a single Warm white bulb replaced among a sea of cool white bulbs. I’m saying, should that happen, I’m going to expect compensation in the form of cookies at a minimum.
Before you decide on a color, think about all light sources in the room
- Warm white bulbs give your home a cozy feel, but can make even crisp cool whites, like appear yellow. If your kitchen is west-facing, you may notice that the golden hour sun casts a yellow tint on surfaces. Tack up a paint sample and see how your desired color looks for at least 24 hours.
Consider specialty bulbs
- You put time and effort into curating your style during the renovation and design of your home, so continue that thoughtfulness when considering your lightbulbs. If your fixtures allow, choose a dimming bulb. Programmable smart LED bulbs allow you to customize your lighting to the feel of your home.
Consult a designer
- Designing your perfect space- lighting included– is tough, and we encourage clients to reach out to a local designer if they’re looking for color and lighting opinions. Professional interior designers have seen it all, and can help steer your project based on your desired vision. The professionals at Craine Painting are detail-oriented, but don’t have a designer’s eye for color scheme and style.

Even the time of year and reflection of water can change how your paint colors look in natural light.

Cabinet refinishing for a cost-saving renovation

When planning a kitchen remodel or renovation, you’ll want the biggest impact for your dollar. Replacing your cabinets is often the single most expensive part of giving your kitchen a refresh, but that doesn’t have to be the case! The experts at Craine Painting specialize in applying high quality and durable finishes to transform your kitchen and your existing cabinets.

Consider the following when choosing between refinished and newly installed cabinets:

Custom work
- Current cabinetry has been measured and fitted to your unique space and layout needs
- Craine Painting has a history of working with unique color schemes. Instead of relying on the stock finishes offered in new cabinetry, make your kitchen uniquely yours with an exciting color choice or finish.
Sustainability
- Your solid wood cabinets were made to last a lifetime, so get the most out of your solid oak, maple, or cherry cabinets.
- Think about durability- don’t settle for manufactured wood and veneer just to get a new look in your kitchen or bathroom.
Expertise
- Cabinet refinishing is our bread and butter. Craine Painting has worked with homeowners in the Lake Geneva area for a decade. Our team brings know-how and professionalism to each project. If you’d like to know more about our process, check out our Youtube guide to refinishing cabinets.

Ready to request a quote? Fill out our cabinet refinishing form.